


Salazar's Resolution (previously Salazar's Revenge)

by voxaurum



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Genre: Boats and Ships, El Matador Del Mar, Established Relationship, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Friendship/Love, Happy Ending, Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Pirates, alternative ending, life aboard the ship, some smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-04-30 08:02:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14492475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voxaurum/pseuds/voxaurum
Summary: The experience of the other side. You and the crew of the Silent Mary team up against the pirates. Armando Salazar wants Jack Sparrow's head and you will help him get it. However, catching Sparrow proves to be not an easy task and you soon find yourself aboard the British Royal Navy ship... Prepare to experience the tough sailor's life at sea while you search for a pirate that started it all.Story is intertwined with Dead Men Tell No Tales timeline and will take a different turn where POTC5 ends.Please excuse the silly first two chapters (they will be re-written at some point) - I didn't think it will turn into a serious fanfic.





	1. Blot On The Horizon

**Author's Note:**

> I normally write my own stories, this is my first chapter style fanfic written and published here. I hope it's up to your standards, dear readers <3 you can connect to me via Tumblr (voxaurum) if you wish to discuss things :)) but please, help me by leaving comments - writers love comments :)

"Sail-ho! Larboard bow," shouted the sailor you barely knew from crow's nest.

The heads of _The Storm's_ crew turned and whoever had their spyglasses, took them out to have a look at it. There was excitement and cheerful shouts, hope for some gold aboard the poor ship. _The Storm_ was a powerful, well manned man-of-war, boasting 94 guns as well as the speed of 11 knots. The pirates have seized such beauty under the darkness of night, climbing the ship silently and killing few dozen of British navy soldiers until the first shouts were heard. It was already too late.

You have sailed in _The Storm_ as an ordinary mate for couple of weeks, and being one of the newest crew members you were the least visible. You also looked in the distance, squinting and covering eyes from the evening sun. It was but a blot on the horizon. Men on the ship were anxious to find out what kind of ship it is too. Nobody wanted to fight the navy, but everyone wanted some gold. There were no accompanying ships, but the treasure ship might be masked to look like an ordinary naval ship, so the hope was not lost and excitement fairly high.

Captain Moore ordered to slow down and wait. Most of the crew remained gazing at the blot. Any work on the man-of-war came to a halt.

"It's closing in!" shouted one of the men, looking through his spyglass. "It's closing in fast".

 _No ship full of gold would sail for another ship so fast,_ you thought. Some of the men started sharpening their swords as if they heard your thoughts. Others were shuffling on the upper deck, watching those with spyglasses for any facial expressions that might indicate further actions.

It took Captain Moore another dozen minutes to make a decision to get men on gundecks and wait for the signal whether opening gunports is necessary. The flag was not raised, in case they would need to trick the other ship. Perhaps it was a ship in distress? After all, who would sail straight into an unknown man-of-war?

"It's a galleon!" shouted a pirate from the crow's nest and shortly after "Spanish navy!"

"Larboard gunports open and cannons ready!" Moore barked out orders immediately. "Half sails, turn her, quick!".

The crew moved quick, you helped with the rigging next to the Captain until half sails were done. Time seemed to pass too quick. The galleon was closing in at a great speed, even though she didn't have most of the wind in her favour.

"Fire a warning shot!" shouted first mate Daniels. "Ready the mortars!"

The warning shot was fired, but galleon didn't slow down. It looked as if there was no one on board, it sailed silently, but surely - towards _The Storm._ The Captain ordered cannons to be fired as soon as the galleon was in range, and they did, almost in an organised order. Man-of-war trembled and creaked. When the smoke cleared a little, the man from crow's nest shouted yet again:

"She's going to ram us!"

You saw the galleon with your own two eyes, dark tattered sails and knackered hull. You recognised the ship immediately. _La Silenciosa María_ \- a floating fortress, not just a Spanish navy, but a pirate hunter too. A ghost ship.

"Fire at will, prepare to be boarded!" shouted Moore and you, as well as all men on the upper and quarter deck, drawn your swords and cutlasses.

The deep thunderous _¡Vamos!_ has echoed in between the deafening cannon fire coming from _The Storm_. The man-of-war showed a great power and skill, and, were it not _La Silenciosa María_ , the pirates might have stood a chance. But the quick galleon was closing in, her bow going steady for the warship. The creaking from it was heard louder and louder, _The Storm's_ crew fired cannons at will. Some of the men were jumping out of the ship, others were crossing themselves, those that drawn their swords were frozen in place, their faces full of panic.

 _La Silenciosa María_ didn't fire a single shot, she crept upon the pirates with the gracious skill and when she was close enough, it seemed that she gained even more speed, then the _Capitán_ rammed her in _The Storm's_ larboard side. Man-of-war rocked from the impact, some men and you fell on the slippery deck. The ghosts were jumping from the galleon's bow on to the upper deck of man-of-war. Some jumped down and climbed inside the gunports.

You have got up quickly and struck Captain Moore from the back before he managed to get up in full. It was a clean kill - slashed throat. He gurgled and slumped, not letting out a word, he didn't expect an enemy appear behind him. They were all in front of him, or so he thought while dying.

The first mate let go off the helm and was turning to witness such a sight but his throat was also slashed by your sharp cutlass. You have heard a distant _"Traitor!"_ in the background of sword clashes and you have moved on to kill some more pirates that were behind you. 

The ghosts from _La Silenciosa María_ were silent in their kills and there were fewer shouts with each passing second, until only one whimpering man was left. The only two living people on board were him and you. You exchanged nods with Lieutenant Lesaro, who stood in front of the poor kneeling sod. You were wiping your bloody cutlass with the end of your loose slashed shirt and watched _Capitán_ of _La Silenciosa María_ come aboard on _The Storm_ , limping on his cane and rapier, the sound of the two was the only thing that was heard. The ocean was calm, sloshing silently at ships' hulls, there were no shouts, no fire, no cannons firing.

Salazar breathed in the smoky air and smiled at the man.

"Sparrow," he said wheezing. "Do you know where he is?"

The man shook his head and replied hurriedly:

"No, sir, sir please, I do not know where he is, who he is, sir, please let me live, I have a boy, a young boy, sir, please. Please do not kill me, good sir."

Salazar was looking at the ocean, barely rocking both ships. You thought that the man was lying, everyone knew Jack Sparrow. The ever so lucky drunk who didn't deserve such fame, unless it was for his stupidity. Salazar looked down on the man.

" _No te preocupes_ , you will live. You will tell the tale of _La Silenciosa María_ and her search, of my search and Sparrow's head on my rapier," he stroked the handle of it that was attached to his left on the hip. "You will go home... where do you live?"

"H-Havana good sir."

Salazar smiled, showing his full blackened teeth. "Excellent. You will go to Havana and make sure that there are no pirates there. You make sure that. Or none will come back home... next time they sail out," he said, wheezing, black bile trailing from his mouth.

He left the man alive, and walked off from him, while his men were getting back to _La Silenciosa María_. It wasn't likely that the man will manage to sail to Havana on his own aboard  _The Storm_. What was likely is for him to survive on board until rescue comes. Or enemies.

 _Capitán_ came to you, his hair floating in the air, there was a worry on his face. With his barely palpable touch, he lifted your chin with his fingers, your eyes locking with his.

"Armando."

" _Amor mio_ ," he planted a cold, like the northern wind of the seas, kiss on your lips and you wished once again that his lips were real and warm. That you could feel his touch in its full warmth. But you couldn't do that. Armando Salazar was a ghost, missing his flesh, parts of his body, but not his personality, not his passion and certainly not his hatred for pirates. You two shared a great hatred for pirates.

"I was worried about you."

"You are always worried about me," you smiled at him. The smoky air was beginning to clear, it was easier to breathe again. "I can take care of myself, you know that."

"You are but the flesh and blood," his light brown eyes were looking at yours.

"And I can die anytime, yes," you kissed him softly, it felt like kissing a stronger current of wind. It wasn't exactly palpable but it wasn't not there either. Armando was the most real love you have ever experienced. Except for maybe that idiot of a stable boy back in your teenage years.

"But I am proud of you, nevertheless, _mi amor_ ," he said and smiling, he kissed you again, without leaving any trail of bile on you. What was on him, stayed on him and wasn't really there either.

It was time to move back on to the ghost galleon and you two made your way back: you to the _Capitán's_ quarter and Salazar to the helm. _The Storm_ was left to float alone in the sunset. _La Silenciosa María_ creaked and turned. She was on a hunt again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If POTC5 was being on a good side, this fic will let you experience the other side. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it


	2. The Lullaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peaceful evening in The Silent Mary and plans for the future.

You must have drank a whole barrel of fresh water, you thought. You came to realise how thirsty you were as soon as you saw the clean water rocking in the barrel in Capitán's quarters. It felt as if your insides will burst or you will remain a barrel of water yourself. You have let out a silent giggle at the graphic thought that crossed your mind. Afterwards you have washed yourself with the remaining fresh water, using cloth, feeling human again. 

Soon after you went out to the quarterdeck in the dark of night, noticing Salazar discussing plans with Lesaro, lieutenant's hand on the helm. Armando's hair was floating in the air lightly, together with parts of his clothing. You left them to their business and went to see the kitchen stock. The deck was dry on your way there, but you ended up tripping on the broken stairs in the dark and nearly tumbling down in the ocean through an opening in the hull. Swearing like a pirate and getting up, you waited for your sight to adjust to a dimly lit place. You have noticed that the kitchen contained half a barrel of salted fish, however, lots of cupboards were empty, save for one. The smell of fresh bread reached your nostrils. Soft. Fresh. Bread. You picked it up, slammed it against your face, tucking your nose in it, leaving a print. Inhaling deeply couple of times and letting out a satisfied groan, you heard the laugh of a Santos behind you.

"I thought you might like that," he said.

"Like that? I love it! Thank you!" you wanted to friendly punch him in the arm, but instead your arms just went limp by your sides, after realising yet again, that you're sailing with the ghosts. At that moment you felt alone... surreal. It happened from time to time when you were aboard of _La Silenciosa María_. " _Gracias_ ," you repeated quietly. "I haven't tasted fresh bread in weeks. That was very thoughtful of you."

Santos nodded with a smile and left the kitchen, while you sat down on an uneven floor, watching the ocean through the holes of it and stuffing your face with soft bread, occasionally adding bits of salted fish on top of the loaf. You felt full again and even more human, which made you feel even more surreal as you lied down on your back and listened to the creaks _La Silenciosa María_ was making. They sounded like a lullaby. The tummy was full, the tiredness creeping in. The silent crew was making no noise that could be heard by you and it felt like you were all alone on a galleon. And then you slowly drifted off to sleep.

In your dream Armando was there in a human form. Your brain recreated him to look just like he looks now, with missing parts of his flesh, but you have touched him and you felt him. He was not a ghost. You were embracing on the edge of a windy cliff, you felt his warmth and his breath on your forehead. He smelled of sea and smoke. You lifted your head, kissed his chapped lips and you pulled each other even tighter. The kiss lasted for a while, then Armando moved on to your neck making you feel aroused, you felt his hardened cock rubbing to your inner thigh through both of your breeches. He was such a good kisser, he made you feel tingles in your limbs and you wanted to take him right there.

"¿ _Mi amor?_ " you heard the wheeze. It was the real world, not the dream. Armando's face was above yours, he was kneeling down, his clothing floating in the air with the dust. "Shall I bring the bed here?" he smiled slightly. "Food and bed only a footstep away from each other... a living soul's dream."

You snickered quietly and looked at him for a moment. He was there. But he also wasn't there. You put your hand to his face, but parts of your fingers went through it and you took it back immediately, regretting the decision, however Armando caught it and held it. It didn't feel like a touch, it felt like your hand was caught in a tiny invisible whirlpool. He kissed your hand few times and put it to his face again, your thumb touching his darkened lips. You felt the tears rushing to your eyes.

" _Te amo_ ," you have managed to say, with voice nearly breaking, trying to fight back the tears in your eyes.

" _Yo también te amo, amor de mi vida._ "

He lied down next to you, still holding your hand. There was a moment of peace in the world. You were with your beloved and _La Silenciosa María_ was peacefully sailing towards her next destination. Her creaking was lulling you to sleep again.

"Do you ever regret letting me live?" you asked. 

You were wondering about that all the time. Would your life be easier if the  _Capitán_ would have killed you instead of the other man on the ship. You were from the British navy, why did he even let you live? The merciless _El Matador Del Mar_? Letting you come aboard on _La Silenciosa María_? Preposterous! Why did you ever have to bond with the crew, why did you have to fall in love with  _Capitán_ , why did you have to prove yourself worthy? Why didn't you stay on the British naval ship? Why didn't you run back home? Why did you come back to the galleon? Why did you have such hatred for pirates? Why did they have to steal from your already poor family, why did they ever set a foot in your town? Why could you not defend your siblings? Why must you have signed up for...

"Never," he replied, wheezing. "Do you.. ever regret boarding this ship?"

On that fateful day you knew you couldn't manage to sail a badly damaged frigate on your own furthermore, the sea was treacherous, dark and violent. The only way to survive was to go with the enemy of your enemy. The crew of _La Silenciosa María_ disliked you, questioned Salazar's and Santo's choice of letting a woman on board. Women were a bad luck, especially a living one on a ghost ship. 

"Sometimes," you said. "And sometimes I couldn't wish for anything better. The best crew to hunt down the pirates. Invincible. Most of the time it's the pain of not being able to feel you that makes me question my decision," you said, looking at the wooden dark deck above you. "It's not what matters, of course. I just feel that, from time to time. Loving you is painful sometimes," you managed to slightly lift the corners of your lips.

"You are free to go whenever you want, _amor mio._.. I will not... I will not ever hold you down."

You squeezed his hand tighter and felt your own fingers on your palm. You didn't know whether you should reply or what you should say, so you stayed silent. The emotions were already high for a simple calm night after the fight. 

"I have found a boy," Salazar spoke after a while, breaking silence. "Who may lead me to a _Capitán_ that might know where Sparrow is. There are rumours... that the little bird is searching for something... powerful. It will not save him."

"How can I help?" with the corner of your eye you saw Armando's head turning to you, his hair floating with the move.

"I have asked you enough. You can stay on _María_. You do not have to go anywhere."

You looked at him, his face was worried again. 

"I can go where you can not. Will I need to infiltrate another pirate ship?"

"No sé. Not yet. I need to find that _Capitán_."

"I can try to find out what Sparrow's after?" your enthusiasm made Armando smile. His eyes were loving, warm. You felt safe with him. 

"You should be my lieutenant," he said and you both laughed softly, just in case Lesaro might have heard. "The last known place of the bird... was Saint Martin."

"Then I will get off there. And I will send you a message once I learn anything useful. All I need is to restock my messengers and a good night's rest."

The _Capitán_ propped himself on the elbow and kissed you.

"Then it's all set," he looked at you, smiling wider. "Do you want to sleep here or...?"

You have cackled. "Until the living soul's dream becomes a reality, I will sleep in your quarters."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On ghost form: in the films we can see clearly that Salazar is able to kill a man with his one hand, taking somewhat a solid human form, as well as other ghosts. However, I wanted the ghosts to be more transparent, in a way that they looked real, but were not there truly, however, they would be able to manipulate objects (swords, rigging, etc). It's more interesting that way imo, especially writing a relationship like this. Painful stuff xD


	3. The Lucky Prick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adventures in Saint Martin

The humid morning air of Saint Martin created a thick fog around the coastline as well as the highlands, making your clothes stick to your skin. There were some people working along the main road, carrying cargo, some British soldiers were patrolling too, so you've decided to avoid it as much as you could, without missing out on too much information that might travel along of it. There were some people murmuring about a pirate hanging later on today, the others mentioned few suspicious ships passing by recently, as if they have belonged to a mysterious fleet, flying no colours. Others were talking about the casual things that you thought were of no interest to you, such as price increase or decrease, imports or exports, food or drink, local or royal gossip and lastly - some were drunk and singing obscene songs in a broad daylight, making you chuckle. 

You have decided to pay a visit to the gallows today, see who is going to be hanged, since there was a good chance of spotting a pirate or two among the crowd if one was to be hanged. _If there is one rat, there's always more of them around,_  Armando told you once. He hasn't been wrong before, but since you had a lot of time to kill until the hanging, some food, drink and island's news should be in order. 

You paid a visit to a perfect location - a tavern by the eastern dock. People inside were in a jolly good mood, singing, dancing, chatting happily, but the drunks in the tavern made the air hot and stuffy, even with the windows wide open. The soup and meat served with the stale bread on the side were delicious and hot too, however, you had to be patient. You missed the last night's cool air already. And Armando's kisses that were cold to the skin. You felt as if you haven't said your goodbyes this time. You didn't want to worry him, he had to see that you were capable, believing in yourself, hence no goodbyes... only good luck. 

As you were eating slowly, you tried to catch as many possible English spoken conversations as you could with your human ears. 

"... and me mum says, I should get on the next merchant ship..."

"... the rum's never a problem!"

"... heard about these ghosts in her room. Turns out, 'twas a mouse!"

"... Barbossa and a fleet of ten ships... not long ago... all over... "

"... he should've paid you more... perhaps on the morrow... "

"... no no, it seems Spain and Netherlands are neutral... it's just French and English now... as always."

"... stop sleeping! It's your turn!"

The fiddle kept playing song after song, without ever stopping. The people in the tavern were charged with alcohol and happiness, only a few of them were sleeping on the tables and corners of it. 

"... you coming? 'tis nearly noon, pirate be hanged in a few... rhymes, innit?"

 _So, it turns out, the locals were correct._ The pirate hanging should bring more pirates and, if you were lucky, one of them will know where Sparrow is or could be. Barbossa's crew could be there too. Or maybe Barbossa himself is being hanged? Life is full of surprises.

As the crew gathered around the gallows, so did you, making yourself comfortable leaning against the bell tower. There was also a guillotine ready, which made you rather surprised. _Better to be guillotined swiftly, rather than suffer for a long time until your death comes_ , you thought. 

Two carts arrived soon after, one was full of women and another one was closed around it for you to see. There was not one, but two prisoners brought in the middle of town square, one of them, to your surprise, was a woman. And the man... You blinked few times to be sure. It was him, Jack Sparrow, exactly like the posters' engravings, right in the thick of it. He was about to be executed with the rest of the criminals. You had mixed feelings inside of you: part of you wanted him to die right then, but another part of you wanted to bring him in to Armando. You couldn't do the latter due to the too many soldiers being present, so you were forced to watch Armando's revenge plan disintegrate as Sparrow was brought to newest french invention. You squeezed your satchel, thinking about the messengers, how will you have to phrase such moment...? 

The woman was Carina Smyth and she was having none of the crowd's shit, silencing it and speaking her last words, proclaiming herself astronomer, not a witch, and bravely insulting the crowd. She made you shake your head at the decisions soldiers make these days. Sparrow can be killed, you didn't care about his fate, but Carina? She was harmless and it was quite possible that she was telling the truth. You watched in anger as the soldiers put a noose around her neck. 

Then argument between Sparrow and her erupted. He wanted for her to shut up, but she wanted to finish speaking. Something began to smell fishy. Then suddenly, there was a confusion because a man swung from the bell tower. And then out of nowhere the cannon was fired at the platform where guillotine stood and Sparrow... lucky Sparrow went upside down of it, the guillotine's blade being so heavy remained below him. With people screaming, running, as well as prisoners being freed in the same instant, you could not gather your thoughts and managed to only say "fuck me" aloud.  _The fucking bastard, the lucky prick. I will drive my own cutlass through you. You will not escape._  

You tried your best to move through the crowd where Sparrow was, but the crowd was pushing you in every possible way, making you feel like a fish, swimming against the current. Elbowing your way through, you couldn't see the escaped pirate, he was gone. Barely trying to keep calm, you made your way after some soldiers who were also in pursuit of the pirate, but they split and went in different directions soon after and you had to pick a path. You have asked the people on the roads, you have listened to what soldiers have asked and what kind of answer they got, but it seemed that the bird has flew. 

_What would a pirate do? How would he escape?_

_Docks._ It had to be the docks. You darted off as fast as your tired, not used to the land, legs would let you towards the eastern docks, in the hope that the pirate didn't choose the western direction as they were much further.  _Or would he choose them exactly because of this reason?_  You stopped and squeezed your satchel from anger, letting your lungs recover. You had to choose quickly.  _He must have had a ship when he came here, the majority of the soldiers must have seen where he ran to... or did they?_

The lad, there was that lad that caused the confusion! You went to the bell tower where he stood, but there was no way to get to it.  _How did he get on it?_ You have climbed as high as you could on the roofs near the tower in the square, trying to see whether there is some scuffle visible, maybe some masts in the distance...

You saw the eastern dock quite well from where you stood and there was no unusual action, except for one ship pulling in.  _Maybe he didn't even get on his ship yet? Maybe he's hiding in the bushes?_ You have rubbed your face with both hands.  _Fucking... ugh!_ Tucking in all your hair under the soft cotton hat that you pulled from your satchel, you rubbed your lower part of the face with some mossy dirt found on the roof.  _It will have to do._

Then you legged it towards the western docks and, to your great surprise, there was a ship, a poor sloop leaving the pier. _Dying Gull._ There was a familiar annoying voice on it, shouting orders. The bird has flew. 

You noticed a huge warship being prepared on the other pier nearby, _HMS Essex_. British navy, this was your chance. You ran towards it, unfortunately it felt as if you were running around it forever and your lungs will give up on you at any moment. You heard the officers on the ship ordering to weigh the anchor. You were stopped by the officer just outside the entry point to the ship. 

" _HMS Essex_ is leaving, state your business."

"I, I am a rigger in _Essex_... I need to... to get on it," you said catching your breath. The navy soldiers were weighing anchor, ship was already under full sails. 

"It is too late, mate," he looked you in the eyes, but also looked around at confusion happening in the docks. Some men with uniforms and civilian clothing also came running to where you stood. "There is another ship going after the pirates, across the pier, see that frigate? _HMS Mercy_ , get on there, sailors, tell them you were too late."

"Thank you, good sir," you said disbelieving your luck and sprinted yet again, to the frigate this time, which was being loaded with cargo and navy soldiers. The other sailors were already ahead of you.

When you got to the frigate, chain shots from _HMS Essex_ were fired at the sloop which helped to muffle your voice when you said that you were a rigger for a British ship, but they have left without you. Other soldiers, who were also supposed to get on HMS Essex, were rushed in first so in the mass confusion and rush, everyone was let in on board that could pass as an officer with or without naval uniform. You quickly glanced at the sloop, getting farther away with every passing second and got on with the rigging, helping the frigate to head up. 

 _Dying Gull_ was gone by the early evening. _HMS Mercy_ caught up with _HMS Essex_ , its lieutenant Scarfield ordered to cover the larger part of the sea by sailing from a greater distance from one another. Frigate also had a better speed than the heavy _Essex_. Some sailors, you included, were given uniforms in the colours of blue and white. The names of those aboard the frigate have been written down in huge record books. You have made your decision to give the officer your real name so you wouldn't have to pretend longer as it might complicate things - you have served in the British navy before, what's the worst that could happen? As he was writing it down, he asked you:

"Have you a husband on board?"

"No."

"Are you a nurse?" 

You sighed and answered "No."

"Are you a woman of ill repute?"

"No."

The officer laid back in his chair and intertwined his fingers on his belly. He waited for a moment, but you could tell that he took a great pleasure in showing his power.

"What are you doing here? This is no place for a woman. We are pursuing a pirate ship."

"I am an able bodied sailor, capable of many things. I have fought pirates before."

He snorted.

"I have served in _HMS Colchester_ for two and a half years as a rigger as well as carpenter's mate. I have a..."

" _HMS Colchester_ was lost to sea many months ago, they didn't report for duty when they were supposed to, neither was the ship spotted anywhere else ever again. You want to tell me you have deserted it?"

"The ship..." you inhaled. "It was attacked by pirates and plundered, its crew slaughtered and it was left alone in the sea. I, as well as officer Mr Green and cook Mr Johnson managed to hide ourselves and when the pirates left, the ship drifted off to an island where we were stranded for months until Mr Green and Mr Johnson perished from fever. I was later rescued by a French merchant ship called _Lapérouse_ until they dumped me in Saint Martin couple of days ago."

The officer was grinning while the story was told. When you finished, he picked up his quill and said:

"Coward," which made you clench your fists and jaw. "Report to boatswain and get to work at once. Next."

You turned around quickly and went on to the quarterdeck where you reported for boatswain Tuck. He was fine with you working on a rigging without any drama so you got on with it, teaming up with other sailors. 

When you have finished with unnecessary sailing jobs, you were given a bucket and a mop to swab the decks right away so you wouldn't stay idle. You were fine with that, washing decks let you keep an eye on the horizon and possibly some time to send a message, although a cover of night would have helped. 

There were some ships around _HMS Mercy_ , but none of them were _Dying Gull_. As a matter of fact, _HMS Essex_ disappeared too. The boatswain given the sailors duties as well as times of sleep, sorting them into teams of watches and you were glad that they have put you on the first watch.

The day was gone in no time, the bell rung, reminding sailors to change watches. There were only a few people left on the upper deck, some chatting, some nodding off along the bow. You got closer to the foremast and then to the starboard bow, where half moon was shining on your back. From your satchel you took out a tiny, half the length of your finger, unknown type of dead looking fish. You avoided looking around to see if anyone's watching you as it might raise suspicion, so you pretended to clean the top of the bow, while whispering message to the fish. 

_Jack Sparrow has set sail in a sloop called Dying Gull after escaping execution on the day I set my foot on Saint Martin. Last seen headed south west._

You then dropped the fish in the dark ocean and it was gone. You knew that it would become alive in the matter of seconds and will reach _La Silenciosa María_ in no time. _I hope that will help Armando in his search and he will find the bird before British do._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nearly inserted "There was also a guillotine ready, which made you rather surprised, since it wasn't supposed to be invented for another 38 years" for laughs, but it might have killed the mood.


	4. The Locker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adventures on HMS Mercy

After the first watch, you went to sleep in one of the hammocks located in the forecastle, together with some of the mates from your watch. Even though the creaking of the frigate helped to doze off, you kept waking up constantly due to being unused to the naval system of watches any more, as well as the bell ringing every half an hour. Living on a ghost ship where no duties were needed to be performed by you, got you lazy and tired too quick on _HMS Mercy_. It was nearly a year since you have performed such duties and when your time came to wake again, you didn't feel like you have rested at all. 

During morning watch you have ate your given rations of sea biscuits and beef, swabbed the gun deck together with other mates, unfurled the course and top gallant sails of the foremast and changed some rigging between the masts, singing a shanty about Spanish ladies. It was dear to your heart as Spanish ladies reminded you of the Spanish boys, sailing somewhere not far from here. Just thinking about Armando from time to time gave you a little bit more strength from to carry on your duties. Then you went to sleep again, but this time you passed out quite quickly and had to be shaken to go back to work. It seemed like you just closed your eyes and the bell was rang a minute after.

But obviously, that wasn’t true – the sun was in its zenith, warming the already hot ship's crew in the Caribbean. You have checked around the ship few times but there were no messengers in the sea. So you got on with work: first by managing sails in the unpredictable wind while getting the most of it; parcelled, served and tarred some of the rigging along the bowsprit to protect it; and finally - an inner jib was in the need of checking and reparation so you took it down with some mates and brought it to the sailmaker while the new one was put up. Exhausted from all the work, you have spent the time in between the watches bonding with your fellow watch mates, playing cards on the gundeck, nibbling on pork and peas, and singing shanties.

It wasn't until later in the evening, on your last dog watch, that the messenger appeared. You were ordered to do some outer hull painting and scrape off any visible barnacles when you spotted the tiny fish, jumping high up along the starboard bow where you were stationed. The other mate that was doing the painting with you was much further from where you were hanging, so after checking every possible angle, you lowered yourself, as well as the bucket and let the fish jump in it. You have picked up the fish from the paint immediately and ordered it to speak. And it did, conveying the message from _La Silenciosa María_. It pained you to hear Santos' voice instead of your lover's. 

_Dying Gull has been captured by the British navy. Barbossa and his frigate have been captured by Capitán Salazar. Sparrow escaped to Hangman's Bay and set sail in an unknown type of ship called the Black Pearl. Barbossa betrayed us and joined Sparrow's crew. We are in pursuit._

You have washed the fish in sea water, by lowering yourself even more and then put it in the satchel, getting back to looking and scraping for visible barnacles, and covering the hull with paint.

_Well, at least they found the Sparrow. But where are they headed? If they can deal with Sparrow, then it's probably for the best if HMS Mercy wouldn't come anywhere near_ _La Silenciosa María_ _or Barbossa's ship._  But without knowing where they are headed, you couldn't in any way influence that. 

When it was time for a watch change, you decided to get some sleep but when you lied down in the hammock, too many thoughts raced through your head. _Where are they? What of HMS Essex?_ _I hope Sparrow doesn’t escape this time. Don’t let Mercy find him first, Armando. You can do it. You will get him._

You didn’t notice when you drifted off to sleep, but you were woken up before your middle watch. No bells were ringing. A mate from your watch shook you, and you heard the commands of all hands on the deck. Lots of sailors showed themselves up on the upper deck, where other people were watching a distant ship being engulfed in flames. 

"... no cannon fire."

"Is it pirates?"

"... no way it's _Essex_ , she would've stood her ground."

"… not even a sound."

You shook your head, hoping to clear it and squinted at the distance. There was a tiny speck of a ship, the flames were getting smaller. It was sinking slowly.

"Was there no cannon fire you said?" you asked.

"Not that we heard it, no. It just went up like this, as if a fire ship sailed into it."

"No one knows what ship it is, but it sure is larger than ours."

“Was… larger.”

"Could be _Essex_."

"Don't be a fool, Sam."

"Maybe there was a betrayal?"

“You and your theories, again, man.”

“Yeah, but listen, eh, listen…”

You were almost positive that the culprit of the flames was _María_ , but did she destroy Black Pearl? Was it another ship?

Then the Captain ordered to dim the lights, approach the burning vessel carefully and watch out for debris. As soon as the orders were given, cannon fired. Once. Somewhere around the area where the earlier spotted ship was on fire. And there were murmurs of more ships fighting. But there was no more cannon fire. The sea was silent so Captain Sill took it as a good sign, ordering people to get to work and approach slowly.

When the area was approached, the ship was already sunken, except for some larger debris. There were no other ships spotted around at the time. It was too dark, too smoky to see a longer distance. Captain Sill wanted to find out what kind of a ship sunk, but it was too risky to dive in the dark, so the anchor was dropped and preparations for diving prepared.

But when the dawn broke, the bodies wearing blue and white uniforms floated to the surface. Furthermore, there were ships visible on the horizon: one of them was run aground on a distant small, somewhat glimmering island, another one, with broken masts, was sailing behind the spotted land, and there was a third one floating in even greater distance, barely visible to the naked eye.

Some bodies were inspected by sending couple of lads that used to serve in _HMS Essex_  on a boat _._ The news were not good when they confirmed that it was, in fact, the wreck of the _HMS_   _Essex_.

You have asked to borrow a spyglass from one of your mates and you were given it to look through at the ships. You recognised _La Silenciosa María’s_ shape without the spyglass, but you wanted to have a look at the other ships. The one that ran aground was painted black, its sails were also black, which could only mean the _Black Pearl_. But this crew was looking for the _Dying Gull_. They didn't know that the latter was captured by the navy or that Sparrow changed the ship. On one hand, the navy could help with Sparrow's capture, on the other - it was best for them to stay away so Salazar gets the bird. You rubbed your face and gave the instrument back.

"Hey, isn't that the _Black Pearl_?" asked one of the navy officers.

"The pirate ship?"

"Sparrow's ship!"

"It is! It is!"

"Look!"

Then the sea trembled. Everyone shut their gobs at once. But before anyone managed to yell "earthquake" the sea parted. It  _parted_. In the middle of the ocean, from the small glimmering island where the _Pearl_ was incapacitated to all the way through the ocean, the width of the usual man-of-war mainmast's length.  _HMS Mercy_ was on one side of the partition and _Black Pearl_ on the other, with _María_ being behind the island all together where there was no parting to the seabed. She sailed around the island, away from the _Pearl_ , so her destination was the other side of the partition. You could not believe your eyes what you were seeing. Neither did the others. 

"It's the Davy Jones' locker! He's going to pull us down!" cried Sam the sailor. 

People panicked more immediately, some were crossing themselves, some were absolutely gobsmacked. Seafaring legends were stronger at sea. Everyone kept looking at the quarterdeck for decisions. The sea opening didn't seem to spread any more, _María_ was closing in on it, but _HMS_ _Mercy's_ officers were lost, talking to each other. Men calmed down a little, but kept looking at the ships, at the seabed, at the high officers, at each other…

Then Captain Sill finally decided what to do after consulting the other officers:

"The _Black Pearl_ must be captured. To your stations! Half sails, approach it carefully. We will sail around the island. The ship with broken masts and a damaged hull should pose no threat, yet be prepared... she is still floating somehow."

And so the people got to their stations and so did you, securing and furling up some sails. When the frigate was finally turned the right way, yet another surprise hit: a stronger than the previous earthquake tremble, but much shorter, rocking the ships. Moments after, _La Silenciosa María_  began to sink, sinking your heart with her. It skipped a beat, you felt the rush of shock going around in your body. The sea was closing up where earlier partition happened. Some men shouted that the _Black Pearl_ has set sail again, that they were lowering anchor into the sea bed, that there was a man on it, but you could only watch _María_. No magic held her, she was… sinking. Like a normal, damaged as much as she was, ship would do. She was dying. 

Everyone was confused again. The ship that was in a greater distance was sailing closer to the island now too, as if there weren’t enough problems. When _La Silenciosa María_  disappeared under the sea completely, a mate shouted your name and you were back mentally on _HMS Mercy_.

“Get your musket ready!” he bellowed.

But you owned no musket, yet you held one in your hands. The _Pearl_ was weighing anchor, the sea was nearly finished going back to its natural state and _HMS Mercy_ was only minutes away from _Black Pearl_.

Chase guns were fired from _Mercy_ at _Pearl’s_ mainmast but damaged her mizzen topsail instead. More shots were being loaded. The _Black Pearl's_ anchor has been weighed – you couldn’t believe your eyes again – Sparrow and his crew were on it. Alive and well. You wished you could be loaded into the cannon yourself and be shot at that prick so you could drive your cutlass through him. But you yelled “There’s the bastard! Kill him!” instead.

You were not sure if the people hear you or whether they have recognised Sparrow. You could barely hear anything through the shouts, chase gun fire and your own blood boiling, clouding your vision, but a mate on the upper deck, to your left, shouted:

“Men overboard!”

“ _Pearl_ is gaining speed! Quick quick!” bellowed others.

“Come on, load ‘em up.”

“I think they’re Spanish!”

You felt your heart stop again and then restart at double the previous speed. You turned to the larboard side and you saw few bodies floating in the sea, where sea was parted before. Men, in black and white uniforms, one of them... was waving… _Lesaro?_ The thick pool of blood in the water… There’s… _Arman.._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On life at sea: one thing that fascinated me most during my childhood/teenage years was ships, pirates (not romanticized version) and living life at sea in general. I wanted to give this story an authentic feel of what the life on board of a British navy ship would feel like and add my personal favourite: superstitions and legends of the sailors. Even though not all shanties were allowed to be sung while at work... it is a fantasy fic based on a fantasy film... :))) It is most likely that more will be added to an already written chapters just so you could read in a way that you would feel on board yourself.


	5. The Cat Out Of The Bag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The alternative turn of events after the destruction of the Trident of Poseidon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always wanted a reader to read with the music I listened to when I wrote a certain moment. This time, this song made me slow down everything that was happening in this chapter, making me (and I hope the reader), to forget everything else in the world while the story was being told in depth. If you would like to listen to it, here's the link:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOuIlbK6cVU

The sounds of the world were not there any longer, the time ceased to exist, there was only the present. Only you breathing, your heart beating, your sweat trickling down your forehead, only water splashing at your face and washing it away.

You were swimming in your white uniform, your shoes have sunk, your eyes fixed on the love of your life. He was kept afloat by Lesaro, shouting something you could not understand. The water was getting in your eyes, your mouth, your ears, but you kept on swimming. The distance to him seemed miles away.

You got behind him and let his body weight drop on your chest, while you swam on your back without effort, especially with Lesaro helping in the same way on the other side. There were more living men in the sea that were being taken care of by other couple of sailors that jumped the _HMS Mercy_ to help. Armando looked dead, dying or unconscious. Lesaro kept saying something, but you could only apprehend that much at the time. The sound of water splashing and your heavy breathing was all you heard. Your eyes were fixed on _Mercy_. You held Armando as tight as you could. His body was real, he was real, you felt his weight. His face was not covered in ghastly skin, his lips were pale instead of having the dark tint. His hair covered parts of his face, but the back of his head was very much there, like a normal human.

When you got to the frigate, there were already some mates waiting at the edge of the larboard bow, they helped to lift up all the bodies found at sea by putting ropes around them. There was the sound of the whip crack. The boatswain was yelling something, whipping some of the men and a whip caught your upper arm too, leaving a red stripe on your skin. You knelt by Armando, putting an ear to his mouth, but you could not hear or feel anything. Some man pulled you away and there was another man, a ship’s surgeon, kneeling by Armando, checking his breathing, finding a wide gaping bloody wound in his back, the sight of which made you weak in the knees. You were whipped again, on your back this time, but your eyes never left Armando's face, covered in his own hair... he was being taken away. Lesaro was there, following him. He turned around once to look at you, the signs of worry as well as sadness on his face, and then he went after the surgeon and Armando. More Spanish men were being taken with them.

You have realised that you have been standing grouped with some of your mates, while boatswain was shouting something that you still couldn't understand. You tried to concentrate and you slowly came back to your senses. He was saying "leave the dead behind, leave them!"

"Clear the deck, there's a ship..."

"Sir, they're flying the white colours... of their shirts."

"We have a ship to catch, god damn it, to your stations! Now!"

The _Queen Anne’s Revenge_ was sailing along with _HMS Mercy_. It was Santos. It was bloody Santos, steering it. He was alive, in his human form. You wanted to step off the frigate, swim to _Revenge_ and ask Santos what is happening but were pushed back to the group of three men and ordered to wait.

"We wish no harm, only to send an officer!" Santos declared from the galleon with red sails and intricate carvings on the quarter gallery. 

"We do not have time for that," replied Captain Sill sternly. "We are chasing the _Black Pearl_."

"So are we! But you have our men aboard your ship! Such noble action to rescue them, I thank you for taking care of!"

"You can send the officer over once we catch the _Pearl_."

And so the conversation was ended, but _Revenge_ still floated along _HMS Mercy_ , quarter of a mile away from her. The _Black Pearl_ was getting farther and farther. No matter the wind or weight, it was still the fastest ship on the seven seas. 

Then the boatswain Tuck showed up again, red in the face and eyebrows knitted in anger. 

"Such recklessness has not been seen on my watch. Open disobedience, abandonment of duty without permission? Get over here! You, boy, get everyone and bring me the captain's daughter."

It didn’t take long to gather the whole crew and hold off any work on the ship. The sailors were ordered to be quiet and then the Captain Sill spoke:

“These three men and one woman openly disobeyed their Captain and the high officers by jumping ship without my permission, thus abandoning their duties on the ship and letting the bounty escape.” He pointed to the distant _Black Pearl_. “Do the accused have anything to say for themselves?"

No one spoke, so the Captain continued:

"With Mr Tuck’s permission, I ask to strike every man and woman responsible for their crimes thirty times on their bare backs.”

The man that stood closest to boatswain was ordered to take off his wet shirt and face the grating by the quarterdeck. His hands were tied while boatswain took out the cat o’ nine tails from the red leather bag, brought to him by a young cabin boy. The dreaded navy’s whip with nine knots on each end was washed in salt water and ready to use. The crew was silent, as was the sea and _Revenge_.

Then the whip cracked and landed on the man’s back, leaving red stripes. Again. And again. Boatswain Tuck was a broad man and his strikes were true, full sweep of an arm. After the tenth lash, the first blood showed. After the twentieth, subsequent lashes dug deep into the raw flesh and tore it out, leaving a blood trail on the deck. After each lash, Mr Tuck would run the cat o’ nine tails through his fingers to remove the clotting blood and strike again. The punished man’s screams and the cracks of the whip, the sound of it landing on the man’s back were the only things that were heard for miles around.

When the thirty lashes were done, the man was untied and put to wait with you and other two men. The second man stood by the grating and boatswain’s mate stepped in to do the duty. The shirt was removed and put in the basket with the other wet shirt, hands tied again. The boatswain’s mate showed no mercy and struck each lash with his full strength. Captain Sill watched the event from above of the quarterdeck. You didn’t dare to look anywhere else, but the striking whip. The metallic smell of blood filled your nostrils. You wished you could close your eyes, cover your ears so you could hear and see none of this violence…

It was your turn next. You stepped in on the slippery, bloody deck, removed your white shirt and waistcoat, leaving only breeches on. No one said a thing, but you could feel everyone’s eyes on your breasts. You turned to quarterdeck and waited for your hands to be tied. Boatswain Tuck continued on his duty. He washed the cat in the bucket, shook off the excess water and rolled his shoulders couple of times. You could hear him inhaling, then the whoosh of a whip and then the pain on your back. The second time you were struck, you cried out. You tried your best not to, but after the tenth lash you gave up. Tears rolled down your cheeks, you felt the blood trailing down your back. The twentieth lash was hours away it seemed. Mr Tuck kept on striking you. After twentieth lash you gave up on screaming. You felt the skin getting stuck to the tails when it was to be pulled out each time. Your body was shaking. It seemed that you won’t last until your thirtieth lash, it seemed that they will kill you with this torture, but you managed to stay awake. Your hands were untied and you went to the other two punished mates, covering your breasts from the eyes of men.

Hearing the whip afterwards made you flinch every time it landed, every time the boatswain’s mate inhaled and exhaled made you clench your jaw harder. The last man cried out only couple of times, his back already bore scars of lashes. And those scars were opened up again. Cross strikes were given, digging deeper into the flesh, tearing it out, spilling blood. 

When it was over, no one spoke. Boatswain Tuck ordered people to go back to their duties, report to watch and those that were punished, to go to the sickbay to clean their wounds, they will be given new uniforms there.

All four of you walked quickly to the sickbay where surgeon was busy at work, stitching Armando’s shoulder wound, with Lesaro holding the _Capitán_ so he stayed seated. His arms were bloody from wrists to elbows, the floor beneath the table was covered in blood, making the stench in the quarters horrendous. There were two other men waiting their turn to be seen. You rushed to the table, and asked immediately:

“Is he alive? Will he live?”

Lesaro saw you and turned his face immediately:

“ _Ay, dios mio,_ what is happening?” then he looked at you again, trying to see over your shoulder. “What have they done to you?”

You shook head, trying not to remember, not wanting to talk about it. Lesaro’s face turned from sour to angry. “The coat, take it. It’s right there, in the corner,” he pointed with his head to where it was. You took it and covered the front of your body – you couldn’t even think about putting the clothes on your back.

The surgeon stopped putting the needle through Armando's skin.

"Get her out of here, please."

You stepped back, but Lesaro angrily blurted:

"She's his wife, let her be."

There was an instant murmur, but the surgeon insisted, so you stepped even further away.

"You can see him once I'm finished. Get on with that salt, boy."

And then the surgeon’s assistant, a malnourished looking teenage boy, asked the criminals to sit down on another table, one by one. You watched as the boy got the bucket with sea water, washed the wounds of the first sailor, making him cry out in pain numerous times, then adding salt on the wounds and washing them again. The man fainted. The crew from _María_ helped to move him to a berth and laid him on his belly. There were few more berths free on the other side of the surgeon’s workplace. The second man didn’t faint and kept his mouth shut as much as he could. He was given fresh uniform and let go to carry on his duties. You have let the third man in before you, because Armando was still being stitched.

When it was your turn, you wished you could just sit with an infected back instead. You knew it was a silly thought as you’d probably have to pay even a bigger price later, and yet… the salt on the wounds was so painful that you thought you will pass out like the first man. But you didn’t. Clenching the table until your knuckles went white, and breathing loudly through your teeth, you have survived your punishment day. You were bandaged and given fresh uniform, which you couldn’t put on yourself but wouldn’t allow anyone else to help you. You could only trust Lesaro, so you waited patiently, until Armando was patched up, his wound disinfected numerous times and few layers of bandages put around his chest and shoulders. Then both Lesaro and the surgeon put him in a white loose navy shirt and sat him in the berth near the fainted sailor.

Lesaro helped you dress up, gasping all the way just by glancing at your wounds.

“Is it a crime to help people in need?” he kept asking. “Absolute idiots.”

As soon as you were dressed, you darted to the berth where Armando was sitting unconsciously and stood there for a moment, observing him. He was truly there, pale and sweaty, with dark circles around his eyes. You slowly took his hand into yours and cried. You sobbed, uncontrollably. You have kissed his hand few times, put it on your cheek and kissed it again, not letting it go from your lips. His skin was cold, but his body warm. He was warm, he was human. He was truly human. You carefully touched his face and felt more tears stream from your eyes. 

Then Santos came in, greeted the other men from _La Silenciosa_ _María_ , but when he saw Lesaro they hugged tight, patting each other on the back. They were happy, smiling and looking at one another as if they haven’t met in ages. Santos wanted to hug you too, but was stopped by his friend.

"How is she? And how is _Capitán_  ? What happened down there?" 

"She… survived… heroically. Surgeon just finished with _Capitán_. It was the trident, _hermano_. It was down there, at the bottom of the sea. Turner boy destroyed it and... broke the curses… all curses at sea," Lesaro explained it with such a surprised tone, that you thought it only just dawned on him that he is human, and was a ghost no more.

Santos rubbed his own hands, touched his face and replied:

" _Dios mio_ , I still cannot believe it all. Please tell me I am not dreaming."

"If you are, then we all are dreaming... unless you're in my dream?"

The men managed a small laugh.

"When the sea was closing in, Barbossa jumped down on _Capitán,_  wounded him... we were swimming up, getting air from what was left open. I caught him... nearly tumbled down myself… he was bleeding heavily. Then whoever didn't drown... helped me to the surface."

"It was a miracle. I thought you all died."

"I thought we will die too. I couldn't let that be taken away from us again. I am glad to see you again, Santos."

They patted each other on the shoulders. 

"The _Capitán_  must live. We need him, everyone on _Queen Anne's_ _Revenge_ is asking about him. I need to bring some good news."

"We must tell them that _HMS Mercy_ and _Revenge_ have a better chance of catching Sparrow by working together," suggested Lesaro.

" _Por supuesto_ , and how will you suggest this to the British navy? I think they still think that we're at war. They would barely let me on board, the glares I have received..."

"We will have to work on our English, _hermano_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it's obvious and understandable that Santos and Lesaro spoke in Spanish between one another, cause that's what they would do? And I wouldn't have to write everything in Spanish and then in English? If not authentic enough, put it in google translate xD


	6. Unresolved issues

It wasn't long before you have been called to your duty with no time to spend by Armando's side because boatswain's mate ordered you to get below decks to the bilge - there was a devil to pay, but not before the water was pumped out. You were not surprised when you were joined by the other three, earlier flogged men, two of which you shared watches with: George and Phillip. You didn't recall the third mate's name, he was the one that already had some scars on his back. 

All of you worked in silence for quite some time. You were one of the mates that had to go up the ladder with a full bucket of water and to give it to the other mate mid way on the deck so he could go up one more deck and empty it through the gun port. Your legs were getting tired after half an hour of such work however, only less than a fifth of the required water was pumped out by then. You switched places between one another frequently so that the work was being handled quicker. But bending over to get the water was not easier for the wounds on your back. Every time you have used the muscles on your back, the wounds stretched or wrinkled painfully, making them unlikely to heal at any time soon. You were hoping that no infection will get into them either. 

It took you another couple of hours of hard work to start with the caulking, which was in no way any better. And then the silence was broken by men, chatting casually. Eventually, the question you didn't want to talk about was brought up by George:

"So what's the story between you and that Spanish lad then? What's his name?"

You dipped the brush in warm pitch and brushed it in between the boards. 

"Wouldn't you want to know?"

"Well, that's why I'm asking."

You sighed deeply. You didn't want to lie, however there was a big chance of making you sound crazy, despite what happened at sea lately. And you were not sure what the Spanish navy decided to do yet. Did they still belong to the navy? Were they privateers? Free men? You scraped off the excess pitch and put it in the bucket.

"Armando and I... we have met in one of the islands in the Caribbean... fucked once or twice."

The mates started whistling, making you smile childishly. It was a shame you couldn't tell them the real story. But it's for the best that his old identity was hidden - you also had to consider the fact that you cannot be taken for a deserter too. There were lots of facts that needed to be thought about carefully so no one suffers, including what's left of the crew of  _La Silenciosa María -_  now the crew of _Queen Anne's_ _Revenge_. 

"Whhayyy, our rigger had some action with a Spanish bloke... was it... ooohh was it during the war?" George's face lit up comically at his own question. 

You startled at the question.  _Shit._

"Ooooh it  _was_  during the war," he guessed, making others whistle again, knocking on the hull. "I'll be damned, some good weapons you got there up your.."

"That's enough now," you replied, yet you couldn't help but giggle at the immaturity of this crew.

"So... is he the clingy type?" asked Phillip after a while.

"No."

"Why was he there, in the ocean?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him... in years."

"The other man said you were his wife."

You felt your heart skip a beat. _I was not his wife, Lesaro, why did you say that?_

"Lesaro is a silly man, he thought we will get married, but we never did, we... parted ways some time ago. Maybe he was confused and shocked from what happened there, in the ocean."

"You jumped the ship pretty quick back then."

You kept on caulking as calmly as you could. "I must have confused them with our men, the uniforms looked alike in the water at dawn... with  _HMS Essex_  being destroyed and all..."

"True, true," agreed George and others nodded, except Phillip.

"I think she's lying," he said and your heart skipped a beat again. "I think she knew exactly who he was and jumped overboard for her, oh so not existing love," the sailor imitated fainting, dropping some pitch from his brush. "You love him, don't ya?"

You thought about what to say. What's the worst that can happen? Someone would find out that your love for Armando isn't so private? But for the laughs and to tease the mates, you sarcastically said:

"Oh, _god_ no."

"They must have involved themselves with Jack Sparrow, them Spanish," said another man, who's name you didn't recall and at that point you didn't want to ask. 

"I wonder what happened down there. We never got to see what was at the bottom of the sea," you said, changing the subject quickly.

The sea shanty about Davy Jones was started by George as an answer and you all joined in. It was uplifting, however, somewhat eerie to be sung so deep below the decks. After it was finished, you worked in silence, still having the lyrics ring in your ears. Caulking took the longest and the smell of pitch was hurting your head. 

When it was done (for as much as it could be done at the time), as well as inspected by boatswain's mate, you were relieved to go to eat before you start your watch. You ate your ship biscuit and pork rations, and afterwards went to take a dump at the head of the ship, where you enjoyed the last of the sun on your body, as well as soothing sound of waves splashing against the hull. Working without sunlight and fresh air made you miss them quickly. 

When you washed your rear, you started the first watch soon after. You have noticed Santos speaking to the Captain Sill and boatswain Tuck at the quarterdeck when the sun was already down. You caught him just before he was about to leave the ship after that conversation. He was happy to see you and he hugged you, carefully as not to touch your wounds, he patted your shoulder. 

"It's good to see you," he said. "I was just speaking to the  _Capitán del_   _Mercy_ ," he took you further from other men and almost whispered. "He really doesn't like me."

"Why, what's wrong?"

" _Exactamente_ , is it my face? My heritage?" he asked, making you shake your head. "All right,  _dios mio_ , no jokes with you, then. I have asked to stop at Tobago as it's the only place near us that is neutral at the moment.  _Queen Anne's Revenge_  needs to be stocked with food, we're running dangerously low on our supplies... some men want to leave.  _Capitán_  Salazar already agreed that it needs to be..."

"He's awake?" you felt your heart beat faster.

"Of course, he's awake! Wait, I haven't finished talking, show some respect, he's not going anywhere, _Jesús,"_ you were not going anywhere, Santos was only messing with you. "So, as I was saying. I spoke to  _Capitán_  Sill and he barely, just barely, agreed to make a stop. He said he needed to pursue the  _Black Pearl_  and you have enough stock, but I have managed to convince him that two ships are better than one in catching him and destroying him, but we need to stock up so..."

"Well done, Santos," you said as soon as he finished. "So, we stopping then?"

" _Sí,_ we should get to Tobago tomorrow if the wind will be as good as it is now."

"Excellent, thank you for the news, Santos," you were about to go, but he caught you by the arm gently.

"One more thing."

You waited for him to speak, impatiently. Santos looked around and spoke softly, almost whispering again:

"Have you got some unresolved issues with the British navy? They seem to take a particular interest in you, and made sure I have heard that no desertion is tolerable aboard this ship."

You rolled your eyes. 

"Is that a yes?" he asked again.

"Santos, I wouldn't desert the navy, I can't. Or I will ruin everything good that happened recently. Not until my unwritten contract ends... which is Sparrow's capture I guess? I need to check on that. With that stupid log keeper."

He nodded with a smile, patting you on the shoulder again.

"I knew you were a good soldier. I will see you tomorrow, on land, _hermana_ ," he said and went down to the rowboat. 

You have watched Santos row it back to  _Revenge_  while preparing yourself to meet with Armando mentally. You felt like you needed to empty your bowels again.  _Okay, be strong. It's going to be okay, you already saw him in his human form..._ and yet, your stomach was turning and twisting, getting to the point where you even began to feel nauseous. 

You got yourself down to the forecastle and walked towards the sick bay. When you were walking past the hammocks, dodging mates sleeping and talking, you noticed Armando's face in the distance, his lips were moving - he was talking to Lesaro. You felt your stomach turn yet again. Intense horrible thoughts crossed your mind:  _what if he doesn't remember me? What if he doesn't like me now that he's human? What if he never liked me?_  You have stopped for a moment, but resumed immediately by walking slower, looking at the berth, trying not to listen to your absolute shite for a brain. 

Armando was, in fact, awake and when he saw you, he stopped talking, making Lesaro turn to where you were, smile, nod and leave. Armando's face lit up with a genuine wide smile, even though he looked weak, pale, and sweaty. He extended his right arm towards you and you took it, making you feel like you will melt through the deck, right to the bilge and someone will have to pump you out of there. He drew it closer, pulling you closer, kissing the top of your hand, the fingers and watching you with a flirty smile on his face. You haven't seen such a face of his. His lips were warm on your skin, he was truly human. A normal, average built human. His hair was tied into a messy bun, with strands falling out of it. 

You covered your mouth with another hand, barely containing your laughter through tears. There were so many emotions inside of you: the happiness of Armando being alive, being human, the laughter of his actions drawing you closer to him and giving you flirty looks, the pain of seeing him suffer, the pain of your own back, the worries inside your head, the love... the love was the strongest of them all. You admired him, rocking slightly side to side in the berth, watching you silently, smiling. 

You were both at loss for words. You got closer, caressing his cheek, then leaned in for a kiss, making you cry happy tears and when you pulled back, you saw Armando's eyes were watery too.

" _Amor mio_ ," he spoke. "I cannot... I cannot appreciate you enough. You're the prettiest woman I have ever met."

The smooth way of starting the conversation. It felt like it was your first time meeting him, like you barely knew him and you giggled, wiping your tears away, letting happiness overtake you. His voice was soft, not thunderous, from deep underground. You have heard his true voice for the first time. You have only started to know the real Armando.

"There's no other women here, Armando."

He clicked his tongue and pulled you in closer to kiss you again. This time your tongues met and for a moment nothing else existed. There was only universe and you two, kissing. You both looked at each other afterwards, not taking eyes off one another. Armando kept both of your dirty callused hands by his lips, giving them small kisses from time to time. 

"I could touch you and kiss you all day," he said, making you blush, but you didn't show that. Instead you said:

"You can do that when we get to Tobago," making him stir in his berth and squint flirtatiously as if it were a contest who is the better flirter. "I told some of my mates that we fucked once or twice," you waggled your eyebrows, but he didn't lose it.

"Then we better make it happen soon," he said and your lower belly sent a spasm. "We want them to believe your stories, at least for now."

"They're better than Lesaro's anyway."

"Did he say something wrong?"

"Incredibly. In any case, we should reach Tobago tomorrow. I heard  _Revenge_  needs some supplies."

"They do," he confirmed while the cook's mate came in by the berth with a bowl of brown soup and handed it over to Armando, making you take your hands back. You suddenly remembered where you were. Armando pointed to the bowl and explained: "Ah, the cook has been bringing me this food. It's made of beans he said. Beans, peas and something... vile - to help with the loss of blood."

When he started eating, Lesaro came back and you both exchanged smiles. He then spoke:

"I spoke with the rest of the crew from  _María_  that's on  _HMS Mercy._  They have been informed about being docked as well as ship movement."

Armando kept eating and nodding. "Yes, that is excellent, thank you Lesaro."

Lieutenant then looked at you. "I am not entirely sure what happens after, but the navy is keen on catching Sparrow."

"I do not doubt that I will have to stay with the navy until they do... and knowing how slippery the lucky prick is, it might take a while," you replied.

"Some people want to go home, Armando," said Lesaro. "Do we let them stay in Tobago? They might have better chance in catching the right ships from Caracas to Spain but we need the able crew. _Revenge_ isn't a sloop."

"We need to count the people that want to go home first, we will make decisions after. Perhaps in Tobago, we need to make a meeting with them all. How long can we stay there for?"

"Two days, one night. That is _HMS Mercy's_ plan, then they sail."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I decided to write this fic, I made a decision to not give names to most people on board as it would complicate the reading with so many names, however, the more I had to call them mates all the time, the more I needed the names to be given. And so they were baptised!


	7. Tobago

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adventures in Tobago

In between the wars, Tobago remained a neutral state by the time _HMS Mercy_ and _Queen Anne’s Revenge_ reached it. The ships were docked and secured next to one another by the half of a mile long pier. There were couple of other ships docked too: one merchant sloop and one brig - both Spanish.

People were leaving both recently docked ships, and the ones from _Revenge_ were waiting for Armando to be helped down by Lesaro and Phillip. The _Capitán_ tried his best to stand straight, but simply couldn’t do it properly. But instead of choosing the cane, he used your arm, which you wrapped around his, in a way that it looked like you were simply taking a walk with him. The crew from _Revenge_ was congratulating, cheering and otherwise making happy noises, toasting to his health as soon as they saw Salazar. He politely nodded and smiled, thanking them. You let him go to talk to his crew while you helped your mates to unload some empty crates and take them by the foot of the pier for loading goods next day.

Your own crew became a nuisance right away too, drinking from bottles, spilling the booze from them, and singing songs louder than you thought was possible for a small group of drunken sailors. Some of them went to look for a brothel, some of them went to the tavern and some simply drank on the beach under the straw covers situated all over the island. It seemed that less than a week on a ship made men feel like they have spent months on it. Well, maybe they did, right before Saint Martin, when they served under _HMS Essex_. You didn’t know. You didn’t care. All you wanted is some nice food and a long night with your love.

Most of the sailors were heading to the tavern, Spanish and British alike, so you joined in with some your mates: George, Phillip, and the man whose name you had to remember to ask someone soon, chatting on your way down there.

The tavern was already full of mostly drunk sailors, singing Spanish shanties. _Guerra del Asiento_ or War of Jenkins' Ear between Spain and Britain ended only  mere three years ago making both sides bicker every time they met. Usually sailors were quite forgiving to each other and only joked about wars, rarely meaning any offence. No royal navy sailor truly wanted another war, they had too many recently. In truth, you loved seeing both sides getting along and spend time together, playing games, joking about each other’s culture and participating in charades of what a certain word means in one of the languages. It felt like some sort of a family, as if your family was British and you married into a Spanish family. Such thoughts warmed your heart.

You sat at the table with your mates and ate some hot soup, washing it with a good quarter of a pint of rum. It tasted so much better in the island than on the ship. Then you sat back in the chair and relaxed for some time, chatting with your mates. You managed to finally ask George the other mate's name when he was taking the piss outside and learned that it was Leon. You finally felt relieved, as if you have completed an important bounty contract. Later most of them went to seek women and you felt like you needed to seek your man. But Armando was already walking to your table, slowly. When he sat down on the chair, he spoke:

“Apparently my crew struck gold on _Queen Anne’s Revenge_. It seemed that Barbossa was fond of luxuries.”

“That’s good. You will need to live somehow. It’s not like the Spanish navy is paying you.”

“Exactly. I have also learned what happened to you and three other sailors that rescued our crew.”

You shrugged it off. “It doesn’t matter, honestly. British navy has always been strict and to be honest…”

“I wanted to let you know, that would I have been in my previous body at the time, I would have slaughtered them all for such foolish laws and punishments.”

“Then I am glad you are not him,” you said, looking at your empty plate.

“So am I. Come, I got us a room on the second floor.”

Armando extended his arm, which you took and also helped him to get up from the chair, but you too grunted because of your sore wounds on your back. You both ended up chuckling softly, all the way upstairs.

“Navy life, eh?”

“I’m just getting old, catching up with you,” you said.

The room was fairly big for a small tavern like this one. It contained a nice wooden bed with cotton padding, a dresser and a table with a chair. Both windows facing the door were unglazed, letting a breeze in at all times of the day. You could see the light blue sea that had no ships in the distance. Its waves were crashing silently on the shore. The palms and grass grew where there was no sand. Caribbean was beautiful.

When you entered the room, Armando shut the door behind him and walked up to you slowly. You moved backwards, closer to the windows, which illuminated his face as he kept on getting closer. His human face, with his hair tied back into a bun. Finally, you were alone.

Armando put his arm around your waist, the other under your chin and you kissed, with full passion as well as body touch, sending you immediate arousal signals to your lower belly. You felt his hips, his thighs on your body. His waist, his neck, his hair… his stubble, his lips, his tongue. You pulled away for a moment to appreciate his face again and so he did the same, brushing the hand through your hair, kissing your forehead and looking at your eyes, smiling, shaking head.

“You cannot imagine how good it feels to have you in my arms, _mi amor_ ,” he said. “It seemed that I will never experience such blessing.”

“I can imagine, _amor mio_. I feel… as if I’m dreaming because I thought this wasn’t possible. I am glad to be here, in your arms.”

There was a moment of silence when you hugged tightly, both appreciating each other’s presence. You kissed again shortly after and you felt the tingle again. Carefully pulling his plain white cotton shirt over his head you let him unbutton your complicated navy shirt with lots of buttons. You saw him do it with a wide smile when he saw yours.

“I never liked navy uniforms,” he said. “But British really overdid themselves this time.” You kissed him in between his sentences. “Do you think they always like to compete?”

You laughed, but gasped immediately when his lips touched your neck, and your upper chest. Your shirt was undone, removed from your body, and you let Armando indulge in you for a moment until he stopped, turning you around and making you walk to the dresser. He held you by your upper arms when you got there, with your back to him. He didn’t move. You realised that he was looking at the wounds on your back.

“Don’t ruin it now,” you said, feeling his kisses on the top of your shoulders soon after, as well as on your neck.

Pulling you by the hips, closer to him, you felt Armando's crotch on your rear as he was caressing your breasts, never stopping kissing your neck and your shoulders. He then got in front of you and patted the top of the dresser, which was around the same height as his hips. You jumped on it with a smile and said:

“You know we haven’t washed in ages, right? You in particular haven’t washed in years.”

“Oh I know,” he said with a grin, planting kisses on your neck, unbuttoning your trousers, making you shake your head. “We will get some water later and I will eat you out after,” his talk made you weaker, but you grinned widely.

“ _Dios mio_ , how did I not know you were such a smooth talker?”

He pulled your breeches after you lifted your bum, and with one swish he removed his. It was easier for him because he was not dressed in a complicated uniform, but a simple peasant’s clothing. It only took him two seconds to get out of all his clothing.

You didn’t fail to notice that he was very much aroused and was ready to go anytime, so he pulled you closer, making your genitals meet, but not go in. He put his prick in between your inner lips' sides, rubbing it on them and around, spreading your juices, making you both breathe a little louder.

He watched you enjoying the pleasure and you grinned back at him, trying your best not to look needy for a fuck. Your insides were begging for him to go in and you were sure that he felt the same, but this was the moment you both savoured to the last drop. You both have been waiting for this for so long and now it’s only moments away.

When your eyes met, you nodded slightly and he went in, slowly, enjoying every single bit of you until he could go no more. You were out of breath, when he started to thrust slowly, varying from shallow thrusts to deeper... to round thrusts starting slowly, but intensifying little by little.

Each motion sent all sorts of pleasure feelings all around your body. You were kissing in between when you could shut your mouth, but you have noticed that Armando also couldn’t contain his pleasure silently for too long. Soon you were both moaning together with some other couple next door, but you only heard yourselves. Only when he slowed down to the bare minimum of thrusts per minute to cool down, did you hear the moans. You both laughed heartily.

Then he took out his prick and rubbed it a bit on your pussy, kissing you.

“Now, we’re going to get some water.”

“Now?” you asked surprised, somewhat disappointed.

“Exactly,” he started dressing himself, wiping his sweaty forehead with the sleeve of his shirt, but watching you. “It will be worth it, trust me.”

“It better be,” you said jokingly. You knew it will be, it was just a pain to stop now.

You wiped in between your legs with underwear and put your arms through the navy uniform’s sleeves, stopping there and looking at Armando, who was looking at you.

“Can’t I just wait here?” you asked, making him laugh, and kiss you.

“All right, I will be right back. No touching,” he said with a wide smile, shaking a finger, as he was walking through the door.

You looked at your hand and said to yourself: “You better be quick then.”

The sea was peaceful, it sounded relaxing. You could hear some birds and insects chirping when the couple next door stopped making love after series of loud exhales from a man. Armando was back in no time with a big wooden tub and couple of women behind him with buckets of fresh water. They filled the tub, leaving some coconut soap as well as salt, which made you cringe. Armando saw that and assured you that both of your wounds still needed to be cleaned regularly.

“What a way to kill the mood,” you said.

He closed the door again, undressed and went into the tub first. Using a cloth and soap, he washed his body, letting you clean his wound with salt. It was healing slowly, but was bruised terribly from internal bleeding as well as stitches. You kissed him on his neck, while giving a short massage on his arms, and shoulders, making sure the stitched wound didn’t move.

When Armando felt clean again, he got out of the tub, and you emptied it through the window together. Then you climbed in and let Armando pour the water from other buckets on you. He wouldn’t allow you to wash yourself - he wanted to do it. And he did it, slowly, lovingly, he kissed you in various places of your body, while soaping you. He cleaned your wounds with salt while you buried your head in your knees until he was finished. There were no words spoken while you washed each other.

When you got out of the tub, Armando embraced you, making your still wet naked body touch his. You both kissed and then he asked you to sit on the edge of the bed. Leaning over you, he kissed your forehead, your nose, your lips, your chin, your neck, he caressed your breasts and thighs. He kept on kissing your neck, your breasts, your belly, your inner thighs that gave you goose bumps of pleasure. He kissed closer to your outer lips, slowly, putting his tongue in between them and inner lips, wetting them, making you breathe louder again. Armando kept on wetting every part of your pussy, with various tongue movements, from full flat to pointy around your clit at various speeds. He stimulated all parts of your genitals at the same time and he was good at it, not focusing on the clit like most boys have done before. You felt your legs shake from time to time, even though he was holding them softly. He took his time with you, making sure you experience every bit of pleasure possible.

You have been trying to last as long as you could as it was another of the moments you savoured. Yet Armando was so good at oral sex, that he put you in near climactic moments few times. At some point it was difficult to control yourself and you have let out few loud gasps when you came. You didn’t want them to sound as loud as they were, but in the heat of the moment, all was forgotten or otherwise uncontrollable.

You didn’t move for few seconds. Armando got up to his feet, grunting and grinning, wiping his mouth. He lay down beside you, looking at you, catching your breath. You turned your head to him and said:

“You just gave me the best love for my pussy I have ever experienced.”

That pleased him greatly, you could tell by the grin on his face, but before he could answer, you kissed him passionately, getting up but not breaking contact with his lips, you sat on his thighs, rubbing your wet pussy on his prick. You kept doing it and kissing him until he was grinding himself against you. Then you put him inside of you, exhaling loudly. Catching your breath again, you slowly began to move, watching his face experience the pleasure. It pleased you greatly to see that your skills in riding a prick have been pleasing him too. 

The breeze that came through the windows was stirring your wet hair and you smelled the sea, the hot sand, the coconut shampoo on Armando’s skin, his hair… he was with you and you were with him, making love. The day that you have been dreaming about, the day you thought it wasn’t possible. This was living the dream.

He took his time too, you could tell how often he held you to slow down - he also didn’t want this to end, but it was coming eventually. And when it was time, he lifted your rear and came with a couple of your hand moves along his prick. He was steadying his breath right after. You kissed him slowly, then went to the tub, washed off in between your legs with the cloth, washed the cloth itself, and threw it to Armando, who then wiped himself around. Then he rolled the cloth into a ball and threw it at the tub - it landed right into it.

You kissed and cuddled up with the love of your life. You were aware of your surroundings again. The buzzing noise of the tavern below, the voices outside, the sea and the birds… it was idyllic.

“I am not sure what to do,” Armando spoke after a while. “It’s still difficult to grasp the recent events, especially being alive again. And to have you by my side is something I couldn’t imagine,” he paused. “I was driven mad with revenge, I needed to kill Sparrow who driven us into that cursed place, but now that I’m alive again…? I am not ready to risk death again. I already lost my ship, probably more than half of my crew… I want to live my life.”

You felt happy hearing Armando say such words, yet you could not imagine what happens next either. How will he, as well as you, sort things out, your duties, your wishes?

“Your crew - they want to go home, right? What happens if you get a new crew?”

“As a Royal Spanish navy officer?” he asked and you sighed.

“You will have to resolve this issue with navy and your history at some point. Doing it sooner will put your heart at rest.”

“I hope you’re right,” he kissed your forehead. “I want you to be right. I should resolve this in a way where I am no longer tied to my duties or to Spanish navy.”

“I should do the same with England.”

You both kept quiet for a bit. The situation you were in was just as complicated and, had Jack Sparrow have been dealt with, maybe it would have been easier.

“What about privateering?” you asked.

“Do you want to be a privateer?”

“I don’t know who else to be if I’m not sailing. Navy... is too restricting.”

“How about a nice farm in Spain?”

You chuckled. “It’s not a decision that we can make over one night.”

“No. But I have to aim for something when I meet with my crew tomorrow.”

“What about sailing to Caracas, getting a crew, finding Sparrow with us, bringing him to justice and we think then? When you’re free… if you’re free?”

“Will I have to speak about the curse to the King Ferdinand VI? They will lock me up somewhere… or maybe they will demote me and ridicule me… maybe take me for a deserter?” he rubbed his face. “I could live with demotion or exile... I think.”

You stroke his chest hair, thinking how you could possibly escape this terrible situation. He was too well known and gone for around thirty years without a trace, only legends remained of his cursed existence.

“I think it would be impossible to confront any Spanish officials with your true identity,” you spoke. “The officers that will go home will unlikely find a good place or the place they thought they were going to. They risk their own happiness and sanity, because nobody will believe what they have been through if they will decide to speak about it. Same for you… you cannot risk such a thing. Whatever decision you will make… you cannot imagine what peasants or royals alike would feel like, what kind of words will be spread,” you propped yourself on an elbow to face him. “You are a well known man, leave it behind. Let your legendary actions of pirate hunting stay like they were and begin anew. Somewhere where nobody knows who you truly are, who you were. What other choice there is?”

He nodded, pushing your hair behind your ears. “You are a wise woman. I should do well to keep you by my side.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the slow burn wait was worth it :D 
> 
> I have written 7 chapters in 7 days and I need to chill for a bit. Your comments matter a lot and might influence the direction this story will take. Without them I cannot be sure whether readers are satisfied and/or want more.


	8. The End Of El Matador Del Mar

You woke as the warm orange sun rays illuminated the wooden ceiling and slowly filled the room with first light. They descended, together with barely visible dust, on Armando’s arm that was under your neck. His other arm was around your waist, but his body wasn’t touching your wounded back. It took you few moments to recall the events of the last couple of days, last night in particular.  Armando had normal body, he still liked you, he was beyond nice, and you had sex. You smiled to yourself: it all sounded like a dream, but it wasn’t. Your lover’s arms were right in front of you, his veins, the scars, the hair, the fingers... Just like yours.

You were needed in the docks in the early morning, not at dawn, so you still had time to enjoy Armando’s company – just the two of you. You wanted to feel him closer, so you moved backwards a little, putting your rear in his crotch, ever so slightly moving it, watching his hand. His fingers moved just a little bit, but he answered by pulling you closer, immediately letting you feel his prick along your inner lips. He made you feel tingles down in your belly right away. You wondered whether he was still asleep, although his breathing changed to inaudible. You wanted to experience the pleasure once more - you wanted him inside of you again. There was so little time left. So you have moved along his prick a little more, almost unnoticeably. You felt it grow, and for the fun of it, you have stopped, waiting to see whether Armando is awake or is he hard in his deep dreams. He was awake and it was him who continued the moving along your vulva, spreading your wetness all over. 

There was a knock on the door, almost making you jump.

“Fresh water, mister and mistress,” the young girl behind the door said. “May we please come in?”

Armando groaned and put the thin cotton blanket over both you. He asked them to come in. The same ladies that brought the water in last night, brought it in again, carrying bucket after bucket.

"You just love your water at the unreasonable times, don't you?" you asked sarcastically as he stroked your thighs under the blanket, stealthily kissing your shoulder, his prick still touching your pussy.

"It's better to order the water the night before, before anyone else. And be woken early to have more time for other activities" he said softly in your ear.

The buckets didn’t seem to end, in the heat of the moment it seemed that ladies worked slower on purpose. They have emptied the old water from last night over the window and poured the fresh one in the tub, leaving additional buckets for another wash. They also left some more salt and a razor with a hair brush.

By the time the tavern ladies left, you were so wet, that as soon as the door closed, you gently lifted Armando’s prick and let him slide into you, making you grab the blanket from the pleasure experienced when he did so. He held on to your hips and did his thrusting while kissing your neck from behind.

“Let’s do it quick, _mi amor_ , we have no time to spare,” you asked, wishing you didn’t need to say such thing. Time was of the essence, but you didn’t want this time with Armando to be over so soon.

He laughed lightly from behind you and said “As you wish.”

The moment seemed to last even shorter than you thought it would, after Armando came outside of you, he put his fingers gently on your lower belly, lowering them on your pussy. You took his fingers and guided him to show just how much speed or pressure you needed. His hand was your pleasure toy. You let him go few times, until something needed changing and you came when it was the right time combined with pressure and speed.

You both lay there in bed for few more minutes, relaxing, watching the sun rise higher and tavern becoming livelier. You were running out of time. Then Armando kissed your shoulder, got out of bed and submerged himself in the tub of fresh water. You came over right away, to help him wash. As you were carefully rubbing the coconut soap on his back, you couldn’t stop appreciating him. You couldn’t take your eyes off him.

"You look so good, you know?” you said. “I cannot quite believe I am not in one of my dreams. I could just about picture how you have looked like before your ghost form... and you look so much better than I have imagined."

This made him smile.

"And your face," you touched him, the back of his right head side, where there was a hole no more, "it's so pretty. So handsome. This," you stroked his couple of days old stubble, covering his cheeks, "this face is my blessing."

Armando chuckled a little, but kissed you in return.

"Thank you. I should shave soon though, or my face would irritate your thighs soon."

You buried your face in his soapy shoulder. When you collected yourself and looked him in the eyes, grinning, you could barely contain the laughter.

"You face in between my thighs would never irritate me."

He also grinned, kissing you, tenderly. It was a long kiss, the kind that stops the time. You laughed heartily when you climbed in the same tub, spilling the water on the wooden floor. You were sitting sideways, on Armando’s lap, wrapping your arms around his neck. He was happy and so were you. He took the soap from your hand and began to wash you, soaping your chest, arms and legs, taking his time to massage the soap in.

"Do you know your voice is completely different now?" you asked.

He shook his head, letting you stroke his soapy face. 

"And you laugh. I have never heard you laugh before. Your laugh is also a blessing. You are like a completely different human being to me."

"I would rather keep it that way, _mi amor_. Even before my death... before the pirate hunt... I wasn't a nice person. I would like to change that, now that I have a chance. I would like to bury the old me. If you, jumping out of the ship, called _Mercy_ , is not a chance to do better, then I don't know what is," he kept on soaping you.

There was a short pause, then you broke the silence:

"Do you think the pirates will ever stop? Pillaging? Existing? Multiplying?"

"Probably not. Actually, I don’t think they would ever stop. I thought that I could exterminate them all... before my death. Such a foolish notion,” Armando shook his head. “But there will always be pirates in the world, just like there will always be criminals. Or bugs, hunted by birds. And birds, hunted by predators."

"It's a shame that there aren’t enough pirates brought to face the justice for the crimes they committed. Some, yes, but not nearly enough," you said, thinking about your siblings. You had no idea whether the pirates that attacked your city were dealt with, did they live or perish somewhere painfully. You only hoped that they are never going to be experiencing the happiness, no matter how drunk or rich they were. "I would like to help."

"You can, but be aware that it is an endless goal. I have tried and failed. It's best to learn from someone else's mistakes. We have sunk enough of their ships... killed enough. Don't you think?"

You have lost the track of your body count after it reached fifty. Did you become a monster yourself? Were you just as bad as a common pirate? Or even worse? Armando was right, the goal was endless, but it might make a change, tilt the scales. But you were starting to doubt it all together – killing people, even if they were criminals, must stop. You were not a killer, what was wrong with you? Did the need for revenge made you forget your morals?

When you have finished washing, you poured the used water out through the window together, cleaned and disinfected each other’s wounds with salt, and got dressed, except Armando who left his shirt off because he needed to shave. You watched him make the soap froth and apply it to his face while you were brushing your hair.  

"I keep thinking about the day I have lost my life,” he said in between razor’s strokes. “The mistake that I did, the rage that clouded my vision, when I was selfish... I have lost not only my soul, but all of my crew’s. They did not rebel, they followed me, trusted me. And my actions killed all of us. They deserve to get their lives back. They deserve to live more than I do. I want to make it count. My life here, it has to count. And pirate hunt is not the way I want to do it. I have to pay for my own crimes. And stupidity," he spoke without anger, but rather with disappointment and disbelief.

You waited for him to finish, watched him wash his face. His clean shaven face was even prettier than before. He was putting his shirt on when you spoke.

"It is a heavy burden that you carry, but I believe you will make it right," you said, standing in front of him, your eyes meeting his.

"When I do," he took your hands in his. "I would like you to be with me. We can go somewhere, live somewhere in peace. No hunting, no killing. If you wish."

You smiled at him, planting a kiss on his lips.

"I would like that."

He kissed the top of both of your hands few times and went off to finish off with his grooming, tying the still wet hair into a neat bun. Even though he wore sun bleached peasant clothing, he looked even better than in the uniform of a Spanish navy. He was a different person now and these different clothes suited his personality better. That was Armando, a warm, caring man, not Salazar – ruthless _el_ _matador del mar_.

You were both ready, it was time to go. But you stood in front of one another, not going anywhere. Then you embraced him tightly, without squeezing his wound. He stroked your hair, resting his chin on your head. When you pulled away, he looked worried.

"It will be fine, _mi amor_ , it will all be fine, whatever the outcome. You can handle it, I know you can,” you caressed his cheek. “There's a lot to answer for, to figure things out and that's why the meeting with everyone is the best option. You can all think it through and make the best decision. You already know that most of the people want to go home, so it's all good. Let them, like you wanted to. Make up for your mistakes, clear your history. Write it again, differently."

"I wish I could talk to you every day, like this. And all night, while the bonfire burns. By the tavern, by the sea, while the music plays. And the people around would dance and be merry. Where there are no ties to anything and we are free from our duties. There's no fighting. No wars."

"You sound almost like a pirate," you grinned and planted a small kiss on his lips, but he was still worried. Sad even. "We will have time to make up for that later... I hope. One day,  _mi amor_. One day at a time. Now then… my crew awaits to restock so I better get going. I am most likely late as it is and I would really like to avoid being flogged again."

He nodded and waited to say something, but hesitated. Instead Armando kissed you tenderly, lovingly, slowly, it was a sad kiss.

"Thank you for giving me a chance to live again and saving me. Risking your own health for me. I love you,  _amor de mi vida_. Remember that. I will always love you. You have showed me love when I was at my worst. I will cherish you until my dying day."

You nodded, but felt tears in your eyes. Knowing this will make everything more complicated, because you have felt the same... but the duties that bound you to the different places were pulling you both apart. Some hostile forces didn't want you to be together. You wished it was otherwise. The key to your happiness was Jack Sparrow's capture. 

"I love you too. No matter what happens."

You hugged tight for some time. Neither of you wanted to let go, it felt as if you were saying goodbyes. You pulled from the hug first, trying to keep it together.

"And thank Lesaro for saving you. He got you out of there. Come on, our respectable crews await. "

And so you went, first holding hands, then letting him go when you reached the stairs… then down the stairs, where there was another British Royal Navy crew, drinking themselves to death in the morning (or maybe through the night) and you joined grunting Leon at one of the tables, making sure he heard you say his name. You finally got to use it and felt relieved. Armando went outside; you followed him with your eyes until he was gone from your view. It somehow made you feel miserable.

As soon as you drank the whole mug of water, you and Leon joined the crew at the beach, carrying boxes of food supplies to the _HMS Mercy_.

“Any news on the direction we’re going to be sailing?” you asked George.

“North. There’s been a sighting of a black ship somewhere there, or so some mates say that the Captain says.

“Havana? Port Royal? Santo Domingo? San Juan? Where?”

George shrugged. “Damned if I know. Or care. Across the Caribbean sea, away from this heat hopefully. South Caribbean is killing me.”

When most of the supplies were finished loading, you were sent to scrape off any visible barnacles from the ship’s hull together with a mate you didn’t know the name of. Part of the island where Armando held the meeting was not visible from your point of view and the higher the sun climbed, the more the idea of seeing him again seemed unreal.

_It’s okay. It will be okay. I can live through this. And even if it all fails, at least Armando is alive again… he will help his crew get their lives sorted… and even if we won’t meet again… at least I know that he tried._

When the sun reached its zenith, everyone was put to their stations, sails unfurled to full sail. _HMS Mercy_ was heading up slowly under full sail, northward bound, heavy with supplies. You kept your eyes on Tobago's coasts, but even though you were standing as high up as the mainmast's crosstrees, you couldn't see anything but blots of different colours, moving about. 


	9. Blood, Sweat, And Dehydration

You were not absolutely sure, but there was something on the horizon. Something glimmering. You elbowed Phillip who stood to your right. He was tired, blinking slowly, but trying to focus on where you pointed.

“Did you see it? A light of a lantern or reflection of the moon perhaps? Possibly a ship. Although, I need second opinion.”

“Just wait.”

The night sky was partly cloudy, water barely waving, small breeze rustled your hair. The new moon, that was to your left, wasn’t illuminating much and _HMS Mercy_ was slowly making her way north of the Caribbean. It was the third week at sea without any stops. Normally, such journey would take around two weeks to make, but the frigate got into the dead calm of the sea and was stranded in the middle of nowhere for six days, moving an inch per day. The unbearable heat and lack of fresh water claimed twelve lives so far. The food supplies were getting dangerously low, the crew – lethargic. The rum was diluted, turned into grog, but it didn’t help with dehydration the whole crew was suffering.

Then you saw the cannons firing - from around the same spot you noticed the light before - one by one, in the great distance, way out of range, and to the right of the frigate. You yelled “sails” before the sound of cannon fire reached _HMS Mercy,_ and while the cannons were still firing. It was a massive ship, it must have been. As the answer, moments after, another ship answered by firing in return, and then another one.

When the fire, which came from mortars, lit up the sky in the distant horizon, the quarterdeck’s officers gathered around the helm. Such weapons were used by British and French naval forces, and both were at war all over the world. This meant that the ships attacking either needed help or needed to be destroyed.

Some sailors tried to count how many ships could be there - the guesses varied between three to five. One of them must have been enormous and at least one of them was a bomb ship. There was definitely one more there.

Captain ordered to open the gunports, get the cannons ready and get _HMS Mercy_ to head up towards the ships. _Mercy_ had the speed on her side: she was on larboard tack, had nearly empty supply storage, excellent condition of rigging, and even though barnacles slowed her down, she was only four years old and well maintained. She may have only had 50 guns on her and lack of experience, but this was her time to shine.

You climbed the topmast’s shrouds and helped to turn the sails to catch the wind. Your place was there, until further orders will be given. It was likely that trimming the sails will be needed before the first cannons will be fired. You sat down on the crosstrees, holding the rigging with your dry, cracked, close to bleeding, callused fingers.

The vessels in action were getting closer, still firing at one another. Sailors with spyglasses kept on guessing aloud, words passing to your ears. You have watched the mortar shots rise and fall, emitting fire and enlightening the smoky scene. One vessel caught fire, but you couldn’t see much more because of the thick smoke.

When _HMS Mercy_ was as close as twice as her range of a round shot, the yells were passed on:

“Black sails! Black sails!”

Then Captain Sill bellowed immediately:

“Turn her north west, starboard’s broadside at the ready!”

“Prepare to engage!”

“Captain! That’s a Spanish navy vessel! Look!”

Then you saw them all. One small pirate vessel was sinking; another of the two, flying black sails was a bomb ship that looked like sloop and the last one was a brig with more than 50 guns on her. Their enemies were two _74’s_ – third rate tall ships, carrying 74 guns over two decks. The ship that caught fire was one of them – it’s fore mast was broken and main mast sails on fire: scraps of them were flying in the smoky air and spreading the fire onto the other sails. Now it was two pirate ships against one and a half of Spanish ships.

You looked below, at _HMS Mercy’s_ quarterdeck, where officers were discussing the situation again. You could imagine them talk that it wasn’t necessary to engage the pirate ships, since they are not attacking the British Royal Navy, that Spanish Navy can handle themselves, even though it was obvious that they needed help. Finally, Captain Sill ordered to sink the bomb sloop first and engage the brig if they won’t surrender.  

Soon after, you furled the main top gallant sails, reducing the speed, and waited for the rudder to turn the ship so that the starboard bow is facing the sloop. You have made your way down to the upper deck and were handed in the flintlock musket with bayonet, which you assembled right way, also loading the shot. The pirates didn’t seem to notice the newly arrived frigate or perhaps they were in a tight situation to - Spanish ships were showing no mercy, but one of them was losing strength quickly.

 _HMS Mercy_ swayed gently when her cannons fired, one by one, in a well-timed manner. Half of those shots reached the bomb sloop, which was covering the brig, making the smaller ship take water damage immediately.

“Captain!” bellowed few of the mates. “There’s another one of them pirates!”

Before you even managed to turn to see where the sailor was pointing, the shots from the new pirate ship fired, sending splinters in every direction. Sailors that were on the topmost decks, took cover where they could. You smelled the smoke, the burning wood, your ears rang. Then the pirate brig fired, teaming up with the new ship – _HMS Mercy_ was an easier prey than Spanish _74’s_.

Captain Sill stood by the helm, his eyebrow bleeding, turning the helm and ordering to fire at the new pirate ship that was closer. It turned out to be another brig.

Gunner’s mate showed up next to you and sent few sailors, including you, to the hold to get more cannonballs because there were not enough people on the gun deck to do so. You went down, together with other mates, trying to keep your footing, breathing shallowly from the adrenaline. _Mercy_ kept on firing, turning, rocking and taking damage herself. One of such shots went straight through the gun deck, taking parts of the sailor with it as well as sending some more splinters.

When you got yourself to the ship’s magazine, you were asked by a distressed young lad there to help with bilging, because there was a serious water problem. Most of the mates were already too busy, handling the gun deck problems, so you agreed, letting the mates take the cannonballs without you. In deeper you went, where it was more slippery, darker and more terrifying than the battle above. When you got to the bottom of the ship, where water was to your knees, you jumped in and tried to keep your breathing. The air was stuffy, the place barely lit.

“All right, let’s do this, keep that pump going” you said, encouraging the young bilgers. Your lips were drier than they ever have been, your heart beating fast. But you kept your determined face on. “Do not slow down, come on, hand over the bucket.”

And so you kept on pumping water, running up and down the ladders, one deck after another, through the gun port, down below, then another bucket, and up again, trying not to slip on blood, where the surgeon has taken the victims of the battle, then down again, into the barely lit darkness. It felt as if the world will close in on you sometimes, but you had to keep on going, so you did the running up and down the ladder duty willingly. As fast as you could, no matter how tight your leg muscles felt at the time, no matter how thirsty you felt.

The cannon fire ceased after what seemed like forever. You only noticed that when the only sounds were your own breaths and ringing ears. Leon found you some time later and told you that most of the pirate fleet has been sunk, as well as the burning Spanish ship. When another pirate sloop showed up in the battle, the pirates didn’t even engage and ran off. There was no boarding or fighting on _HMS Mercy,_ but the Spaniards boarded one of the brigs and taken it as a prize to make up for the lost ship.

“Spaniards were thankful for us coming along to help. We saved one of their ships,” said Leon, retelling you the events of the battle.

“Excellent,” you replied, handing him over the bucket with water. You felt sweat dripping in your eyes, so you brushed it off and got another bucket.

When Leon took it and got up, he said:

“Your love was not there.”

Those words caught you off guard. You didn’t even think that he might be there - it was Spanish Navy and you expected Armando to stay away from it because of his complicated circumstances. And yet, those words somehow hurt you. It felt as if Leon delivered the news that Armando died. You collected the bucket that slipped from your hands.

“Of course, he wasn’t there. He’s in Tobago, drinking and debauching,” you managed a weak smile. “Are you gonna help or what?”

Leon nodded and walked off, but you yelled to get you a carpenter as soon as possible while he was still in your view.

“Unless you want to pump this water forever that is.”

You were soaking in your own sweat, stench of which filled the hull, it kept on rolling down your face and you felt like you are losing the last water in your body.

Next thing you knew, you were shaken as you were sitting, waist deep in the hull’s water. One of the young boys was holding you by the armpits, your uniform was fully wet. When Leon showed up, carpenter was with him, with few mates and boxes with tools.

“You better get some fresh air,” Leon said. “Do you want a hand?”

“Please,” said the boy, making you laugh weakly.

You managed to climb the ladders and stairs, slip twice on the blood, until you reached the upper gun deck, where smell of hot cannons made you retch, but you only threw up saliva and air.

“Ah Jesus, it’s already difficult to walk as it is, mate,” Leon joked, dragging you all the way up to the upper deck.

“Please do not let them flog me,” you mumbled.

But you were not sure whether you have managed to say a full sentence because you woke up in the surgeon’s berth the next moment. You blinked slowly, looking around.

_Well, shit. Am I going to die like those other twelve mates? I better start walking, I don’t want to die. If I keep walking, I won’t die. I cannot fall asleep. I might not wake up again._

You were put back down in your berth by the surgeon’s assistant. Same young boy, who cleaned your wounds after flogging. You tried again and were stopped again.

“If you get up now, you will faint again and Mister Jones is busy right now, I won’t be able to put you back in berth by myself.”

You looked around, trying to see what the surgeon was up to, but you only saw his back to you, possibly stitching someone up.

“Tell me what happened, boy,” you said. “The battle. I didn’t see it,” as soon as you have finished the sentence, you have realised that Leon was telling you something about it, but you didn’t remember anything.

“I did not see much of it meself, miss. We had few people injured, we were taking care of them. I heard them Captains spoke through the tube thingies?”

You smiled. “Through the speaking trumpets?”

“Aye, them ones. Spanish Captain says he’s got few pirates taken prisoner. Captain Sill went to see him some time ago, but he hasn’t returned yet.”

“Any news of Sparrow?”

“No, miss.”

You clicked your tongue. “Did anyone die?” You remembered the man being swooped by the cannonball as you asked that question.

“Aye, we counted eighteen so far. Most of them died from injuries, Mister Jones couldn’t take care of all of them at once.”

“What’s your name, boy?”

“Louis, miss. Antoine Louis Wilson.”

You turned your head to him, chuckling softly. “A spy, then?”

The boy put on a serious face, crossing his arms. “Aye, I like to torture English with salt in my free time. That’s the only reason why I’m on this damned ship.”

He made you laugh more. “You’re doing a good job, Louis. Please tell me you have some water on you.”

“I cannot issue it without boatswain’s permission, miss, no matter what the situation is, my apologies.”

You licked your dry lips, making them sore. _Guess I’ll die._

When the surgeon moved, you turned to his direction, wanting to ask him for water, but have noticed him carrying a bloody leg, from knee to foot, and felt your stomach turn. One of your mates, George, was passed out on his bloody table, missing that exact part of his body.

You woke up once again, not knowing what is happening. Leon was pouring some water in your lifted head and just as soon as you started gulping it, it was gone.

“We are a day away from Santo Domingo. Try to last until then.”

You wanted to ask whether George will be okay, whether the Sparrow has been seen, whether you will live or die, or ever see Armando again, but you passed out again, without uttering a single word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On history and wars: things that were not mentioned were wars described in detail. First of all, you cannot educate yourself on the local Caribbean history without reading about the horrors colonisers committed. I have not described them in detail in this chapter but please read about them, or better – read about every island you stepped in as a reader.  
> Here are the links:  
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnatic_Wars  
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickasaw_Wars  
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Le_Loutre%27s_War


End file.
